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Anyone get a sense of his ability during camp?

This kid seems like a steal in the trade for Locke.

Picked 30th, tough, big stay at home WHL defenseman with some passing skills. Still should have a good deal of upside.

Or has something slowed his development that I don't know about?

Here's what Hockey's Future has to say about him. It would seem that they think he is just still very raw, despite having top 4 potential and being 22:


Shawn Belle
Prospect Grade: 7.0 C (About Prospect Grades)

Profile Contributed By: Jeff Dahlia


History

Originally drafted 30th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2003, Shawn Belle was traded to the Dallas Stars the following year for goalie Jason Bacashihua. His junior career got started with the Regina Pats and he was traded to the Tri-City Americans in 2001. He has spent the last four seasons with the Americans, where he has become the team’s top all-around player. In his draft year, he was selected to participate in the 2003 CHL Top Prospects game. Belle has also spent extensive time with Team Canada’s junior program. He has played on two U-18 gold medals teams in 2002 and 2003 as well as the U-20 team in 2003 and 2004. The list also includes his participation in the 2003 and 2004 Canada-Russia Challenge, while representing Team WHL.

March 2006 Q&A with Belle.
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/8 ... awn_belle/

Talent Analysis

Belle is a well-balanced skater who has good speed. He is very athletic, highly skilled and can play in all situations. He is good positional player when he wants to be. He has great height and weight distribution, though a little more muscle could never hurt. He is a very capable defenseman with the stick and has a big league shot. Even though he is a great two-way player, he shows his youthfulness by trying to do too much.
Future

His potential is high, however, he is still raw.


Stats
Season Team GP G A P PIM
1999-2000 K of C Squires AMBHL 34 7 20 27 36
2000-2001 K of C Squires AMBHL 39 18 30 48 69
2000-2001 Regina WHL 4 0 3 3 0
2000-2001 Tri-City WHL 2 0 1 1 0
2001-2002 Tri-City WHL 64 1 17 18 51
2001-2002 Team Pacific U-17 6 0 2 2 6
2002-2003 Tri-City WHL 66 7 14 21 79
2002-2003 Canada WJ18-A 7 1 1 2 0
2003-2004 Tri-City WHL 55 9 20 29 68
2003-2004 Canada WJC-A 6 0 1 1 0
2004-2005 Tri-City WHL 62 13 32 45 76
2004-2005 Canada WJC-A 6 1 0 1 6
2005-2006 Iowa AHL 45 1 2 3 63
2005-2006 Houston AHL 16 1 1 2 18
2006-2007 Wild 9 0 1 1 0
NHL Totals: 9 0 1 1 0



Profile Last Updated: September, 6th 2008

On another note, he is one of several players who need to clear waivers after being cut, so let's hope that nobody else saw the same potential in him.

Who are the others, and are you sure about this?

From RDS:

Dans les cas de Belle, Glumac, Lehoux et Flinn, le Canadien doit placer leur nom au ballottage avant de les envoyer à Hamilton.

In the case of Belle, Glumac, Lehoux, and Flinn, the Canadians must place their names on waivers before sending them to Hamilton.





I am not sure, but I assume if RDS says it, it is true. they generally have the best detail about Canadians news. Of the four, however, the only one who might be picked up is Belle. The others won't have any shot at an NHL team right now, and even Belle would be a stretch. He is more at risk with re-entry waivers, kind of like how we lost Hainsey.

I guess you can add Denis and Henry to that list.

There are some current prospects who will be available on waivers if they don't make the team NEXT training camp, among them Greg Stewart and Kyle Chipchura if I'm not mistaken. Chipchura should be a lock to be a Hab by then, but Stewart may be a tough decision. The guy has pretty much one year left in the minors to prove he belongs in the bigs.

I'll be both shocked and disappointed if Chipchura does not take Lang's spot and Stewart does not take Begin's spot in 2009-2010. Unless Lang has a huge season, in which case I think a choice needs to be made between him and Koivu, with Saks getting a handicap due to "years of service" and slightly younger age. But I cannot see this "3 offensive centerman" thing working long term, especially if it holds guys like Chipchura, and in a couple years, Maxwell, back from the NHL.

Stewart won't be competing against Begin, but might lose out to someone like D'Agostini...

Well he will be if for some reason Gainey resigns Begin. And he shouldn't compete against D'Agostini....Stewart is a perfect 4th line guy because he is high energy, hits and fights....D'Agostini on the other hand is kind of like a less physical version of Latendresse, so he needs to play a the first 3 lines to be effective.

That's true, but Montreal has a history of bringing prospects in via the 4th line regardless of their skillset (Perezhogin, Higgins, Plekanec, Chipchura, Lapierre, Sergei Kostitsyn, Latendresse)

D'Agostini is a thousand times better as a skater and as a 2-way guy than Latendresse.

But he doesn't bring much physical presence OR flair, despite his reputation as a low-budget sniper, and that may keep him in the minors. He's a classic "in-betweener" who "does the little things" but doesn't stand out much. Let's hope he bags 30 goals in the AHL and makes a case for himself.

Back to Belle:

Looks like he had a more consistent year in Hamilton than he's had in a while. Anyone who follows Hamilton have anything to say about his chances of ever seeing NHL action again? I like that he's really physical and has some untapped offensive potential. Is he a straight-up bust or not?